South African right-wing leader Eugene Terreblanche has moved a step closer to being jailed for assaulting a black man almost four years ago.

A court in the judicial capital, Bloemfontein, has rejected Terreblanche's appeal against a one-year jail sentence imposed after he was convicted of seriously assaulting John Ndzima in 1996.

Terreblanche could find himself beginning his sentence in the next few days.

Mr Terreblanche, who is the controversial political leader of the white supremacist Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement - AWB), was convicted in 1997 after a court found him guilty of assaulting and inciting his dog to bite Mr Ndzima, a petrol station attendant.

Appeal on second charge

The appeal court has, however, granted Mr Terreblanche leave to appeal against a second, more serious conviction on charges of attempted murder.

The indications are that he will have to conduct this appeal from behind bars.

As leader of the far-right wing AWB, Mr Terreblanche has continually courted controversy.

In the run-up to South Africa's first multi-racial elections in 1994, his supporters tried to disrupt negotiations between the African National Congress and the outgoing National Party government.

Although it now appears to be a spent political force, the AWB continues to campaign for autonomy for white Afrikaners in South Africa.